The collection of small volume oil spills from marine terminals remains a difficult problem. After a spill, the oil generally accumulates at natural and manmade barriers. The usual collecting procedure is to deploy skimmers from shore, utilizing tank trucks or vacuum trucks for oil/water storage. However, the oil generally accumulates in small quantities in a number of different locations, most of which are not easily accessible from shore locations. But even if the spill were accessible from the point along the shore line or wharves, there is still a logistics problem associated with moving skimmers and associated equipment from point to point. Furthermore, since the quantity of oil accumulated at various points is not large, the effectiveness of discrete skimmers in terms of oil to water ratio is quite low, the volume of storage required is sizable which creates a new problem. For instance, using a typical collection rate of 5% oil, a skimmer capable of pumping at a rate of 50 gpm would require storage of 3000 gallons per hour.
The present invention overcomes the above described difficulties and provides a successful and economical solution to the problems of the prior art, as will be apparent from the following description thereof.